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John Lewis Voting Rights Act - It's time for action

Release Date: 01/23/2021

States Rights, Legal Wrongs: A Recurring Page from the Segregationist Playbook

ellisconversations's podcast

In this episode, the hosts discuss the history of invoking some form of States’ Rights theory to limit the efforts of the federal government to expand or protect the rights of persons within the United States Southern Manifesto Mississippi State Sovereign Commission . “Calhoun’s justification of nullification and secession as constitutional rights of the state also went beyond traditional states’ rights doctrine as they were based on an unprecedented notion of absolute state sovereignty. Most old states’ righters, including James Madison, condemned...

Claudine Gay: The Latest Victim in the Debate over DEI, Affirmative Action, and Meritocracy

ellisconversations's podcast

In this episode, the hosts discuss the controversy concerning the Resignation of Harvard president Claudine Gay.Is Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion undermining merit or does it address a history of Discrimination, Exclusion, and Inequality.

From Jamestown to Charlottesville: Virginia and America’s racial divide

ellisconversations's podcast

In this episode, the hosts discuss the leading role that Virginia has played in the racial divide in America’s history. Home to the Founding Fathers and Capital of the Confederacy, the state has been the crucible of the ideals which built this country and the ideas which would tear it apart. Washington, DC History Virginia 1619 . Florida Episode - Indiana Episode -

Holding the Line: Sandra Day O’Connor’s legacy of bringing stability to the Supreme Court by protecting its established precedents.

ellisconversations's podcast

In this episode, the hosts discuss Justice O’Connor’s role as the “swing vote” as the Court addressed major fault lines in our society on issues such as abortion, affirmative action, and gender equality. Planned Parenthood v. Casey Grutter v. Bollinger

Black History: Never Equal; Never Protected: Up North to Indiana

ellisconversations's podcast

In this episode, the hosts continue examining how specific states have addressed racial equality, Black history, and White Supremacy. In this episode, they travel outside the Deep South, and focus on the state of Indiana – Klan Capital and home of Sundown Towns. LINKS IN THIS EPISODE Links for podcast Violence in Jacksonville Florida Ax Handle Saturday Indiana History links Rosedale, NY Racist attacks Other Related Episodes Check out Check out

Black History: Never Equal; Never Protected - First Stop: Florida

ellisconversations's podcast

In this episode, the hosts begin a series of episodes examining how specific states have addressed the racial equality, Black history, and White Supremacy. First stop: Florida. LINKS IN THIS EPISODE Smithsonian Magazine Florida Academic Standards 2023 Ron DeSantis and the State Where History Goes to Die Removing Relics of "The Lost Cause" | On the Media | WNYC Studios Lost Cause Other Related Episodes Check out Check out

Colorblind Remedies for Color-Conscious Wrongs

ellisconversations's podcast

Photo Credit : Encyclyopedia Britanica In this program, the hosts discuss the Supreme Court’s decision to forbid race-conscious affirmative action approaches to achieve diversity n higher education. The discussion contrasts Justice Roberts’ pronouncement that decisions should be color-blind with Justice Jackson’s reminder that the country has been far from colorblind and the effects are not just historical but real in the present because of the intergenerational transmission of inequality. Moreover, the “self-evident” truth that all are created equal has not...

Not in Our Stars, but in Ourselves: How The Supreme Court Undermined Its Own Reputation

ellisconversations's podcast

Image Credit: Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States In this episode, the hosts discuss the Roberts Court’s failure to adhere to precedent and the effect this is having on the public’s confidence in the Supreme Court. Respect for precedents and the application of the principle of stare desisis provide constancy and comfort and avoids the appearance that the Court is swayed by political consideration. Simple assertions that a prior decision was wrongly decided are inadequate to justify undermining the expectations of parties before the Court and the public at...

The Fire This Time: Black History Surviving in the Time of Modern-Day Book Banning

ellisconversations's podcast

Photo credit: Afro.com EPISODE SUMMARY In this episode, the hosts discuss Black History and the historical use of book burning, book banning, and other methods to suppress inconvenient truths. False narratives flourish when voices remain silent are have been removed from the discussion. To download the transcript, A FEW KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE Denying Black people education and banning books is part of historical pattern to control access to information to control the narrative This practice of banning and burning books has been used throughout history by people in power...

Martin Luther King: Waiting on His Dream

ellisconversations's podcast

EPISODE SUMMARY In this episode, the hosts discuss why Martin Luther King should not be limited by a selection of words from the “I Have a Dream” speech delivered in 1963, and how he pointed out the failings of America, confronted those in power, and challenged them to make that dream a reality. A FEW KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE If you look at the "I Have a Dream "speech, and you don't look at that one line, but you look at what he said about the state of Black America and how black Americans were shackled in their own country, then you get a better sense of how he was...

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Photo Credit: Getty Images

There is no Negro problem. There is no Southern problem. There is no Northern problem. There is only an American problem. And we're here tonight, as Americans, not as Democrats or Republicans were met here as Americans to solve that problem. -Lyndon B. Johnson

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode, the hosts discuss the imperative to move quickly on the proposed John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Those dedicated to limiting the number of eligible voters and devising obstacles to voting have historically found effective ways to press their agenda whenever legal restraints are not in place.

A FEW KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE

We need to push our representatives to pass voting rights legislation at the national level. At a local level, we must vote for candidates that push to protect and expand voting rights. (0:21)
The significant changes to voting rights in 2011. (20:45)
Weighing the pros and cons of voter IDs and the last minute changes that happen in elections (26:36)

Report by Leadership Conference Education Fund on Polling place closures.

Report of Committee on House Administration, Subcommittee on Elections, about justification and scope of 2019 bill passed by House.

“Hours after Shelby County, Texas revived a previously blocked voter ID law. Within days, Alabama announced it would move to enforce a photo ID law it had previously refused to submit to the Department of Justice for preclearance.”

https://cha.house.gov/sites/democrats.cha.house.gov/files/documents/Voting%20Rights%20and%20Election%20Administration%20in%20America_ONLINE_11-18-2019.pdf

Lyndon address to joint session of Congress re 1965 VRA following “Bloody Sunday.” Includes video of address plus text. One of Johnson’s finest moments.

“So it was at Lexington and Concord. So it was a century ago at Appomattox. So it was last week in Selma, Alabama.”

NY Times article re extension of VRA July 2006.

“Despite the progress these states have made in upholding the right to vote, it is clear the problems still exist,” said Senator Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois.

“South Carolinians, you have come a long way,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from that state, which is among those covered by the law. “But we, just like every other part of this country, still have a long way to go.”

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